Tag: City University

Art and artefacts that span human history contain many elaborate depictions of Gods, Deities and Icons. From the shining grandeur of Egyptian Kings and Queens, the wild and indulgent furies of the Greek Gods, to the romantic drama of Ophelia and the Pre-Raphaelites. Gods, deities and icons, whatever their form or function, have served as projections of society, encapsulating hopes, dreams, values and fears. Our continued hacking and immortalising of such pantheons, can been traced through art history and demonstrates a human narrative of recording information. The digital age may now have ushered in the likes of robots and artificial intelligence as the new pantheon, but it is important to remember that technology is no more immortal or divine as the sun, the moon or a blade of grass. While technological advancements have improved how data is recorded, it is still the responsibility of us, bone and blood, not metal and machine, to ensure we actively regulate and dictate how we share information in modern life. (McMullam, 2018).

The information that surrounds us, and that is represented in visual culture, now more accurately portrays the self, rather than that of an exalted pantheon. This is in part due to the readily accessibility of technology, which enables us to take a more central part in the digitisation and documentation of society. Our current addiction to upload, depict and deposit our lives on Instagram for example, may seem like a new fad, but there is something considerably deeper and older at work here. Throughout history there have been paintings, the writings of myths, legends and deeds, and mapping of towns, temples and distant stars, serving as documents of humanity. The world wide web and digital media are simply continuations of this dialogue. (Benjamin, 2008). We seem to never quite learn to just let things be or let things go, instead holding onto to our love letters, photographs, books and all the flotsam and jetsam that drifts into our lives. Given the chance, we will hoard the universe, its secrets and knowledge, above and beyond the Gods. It is therefore a testament to our sentimentality that we still value and vitally need libraries, galleries and museums to house, regulate and manage such collections of human knowledge.

Alongside the start of the Digital Libraries module led by Lyn Robinson, I visited Central Saint Martins to see the exhibition ‘Metadata: How We Relate to Images’. This revealed a correspondingly complex world of images, hacking, digitality and immortality. The exhibition, set in cool, smooth concrete, put together a floating world of art and objects, focusing on the role of metadata in contemporary art and art history. A highlight was the work of Nora Al-Badri and Nikolai Nelles, whose hack of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti is a great modern art heist, and a further example of the reproduction and immortality of ancient documents. The artists claimed to have scanned the Bust of Nefertiti, one of the masterpieces currently located in the Neues Museum, Berlin. They bravely made the resulting data publicly available, enabling anyone to use it for their own purpose. (Metadata: How we relate to images, 2018). While the heist raises many ethical questions around surrogate documents and authenticity, I could not help but marvel that the 3-D printed sculpture and digital prints on display, supposedly contained the exact data of an iconic piece of sculpture crafted thousands of years ago. Who would have thought that from sun blazoned Egypt, Nefertiti could be a tourist in the rain swept and slate skied city of London. The Bust of Nefertiti is also perfect example of the legacy of descriptive metadata. There is great power in standardising metadata and using text to describe the wordless. For non-textual items like paintings, artefacts and digital art, someone must create the metadata to tell us how to relate to and understand the documents meaning. Finding the words is another step in understanding and learning to see. (Gartner, 2016, p.41). A vase is simply a vase, but if metadata contextualises it and tells us it is a 400BC Greek Vase depicting Apollo, then the object suddenly has an ideology of history, appeal and value. It is in this, the careful nuance of accurate description, that the Gods live on and works of art have the potential to capture the imagination, entice spectators and impart the desire for further preservation and immortality.

The same impulse the Egyptians had to write information down, and create a visual language, is present today. 3000 years on and we are still scrawling words and images through the internet, which after all, is just a repurposing of scribes annotating on papyrus, acting as a sanctum where data and information can be shared and recorded. Now that the papyrus scrolls have moved into the archive and the machine moved into sight, there inhabits the perfect medium and incentive to digitise works of art, and practically everything else we can get our mortal hands on. Digital libraries having grown from the development of the web, are the next evolution in the lifecycle of the library and the provision of digital material. The idea of having one, singular repository of information is a lofty ideal, but there are the labyrinthine obstacles of interoperability of different digital formats and sustainability to contend with. (Bawden & Robinson, 2012, p. 154).

There is a common misconception that once a document has been digitised, like Al-Badri and Nelles have done so to Nefertiti, it can live immortally untarnished by the claws of entropy. Library and Information professionals must therefore work to standardise the construction and policies of preservation and metadata in digital libraries. The British Library are currently carrying out diligent work to set standards for metadata, so that both textual and non-textual documents continue to have a coherent structure, context and history. There are also digital ethics to consider, such as controlling and regulating linked data, distribution, stakeholders interests and open access. (Calhoun, 2014). Why should all this matter, I hear you ask? Knowledge! If we want to nurture future generations to exude knowledge as naturally as the sun gives out heat, then the information we leave behind has to be more sustainable, accessible, meaningful and truthful than just an echo, afterimage or footprint in the sand.

If all our yesterdays, todays and tomorrows are nothing but electric waterfalls and we continue to assimilate floods of information and experiences into the silvery metallic chatter of digital consciousness, then how do we retain our humanity, individuality and take control of the big data?

As Lyn Robinson and David Bawden steer us to the shore of our Data, Information and Technology classes, I find myself on the precipice of the deep seas and the deeper questions. As tempting as it is to paddle back upstream, perhaps this is a chance to reflect and find some resolution. There are many lessons learnt from our enlightening classes, but the ones that stick with me most are the principles for Librarians to employ empathy, understanding, and a marginal level of order over our messy data. Some of these virtues are clearly achievable, like showing the insight and patience in teaching information literacy to service users. Whilst others, like casting a net of accountability over Google, algorithms and the internet, are infinitely more complex.

Human nature is a whirlpool of disordered, emotive and spontaneously generated data. Despite our best intentions and the efforts to mechanise our day to day lives, we cannot swim away from the physical laws that bind us as creatures of stardust, clay, fire and thundering heartbeats. The mobile phones in our pockets and iPads in our palms are decoys that will try to fool you otherwise.
The maelstrom of the world and everyday life is full of rather perplexing lessons and for most individuals, interactions with nature, faith, the sublime and fellow human beings no longer present all the answers. The inclusion of a digital online space has complicated matters increasingly. We are lured to the internet and social media to seek answers. Facebook, Twitter, Apple and Microsoft are monolithic giants. Far from babbling brooks, they offer individuals open access and the opportunity to overflow, rant and rave their innermost thoughts and beliefs into the database driven algorithmic systems.(Sutton, D. et al 2007).

The cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky defined A.I by stating ‘Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men.’ (Warwick, K. 2012). What A.I is able to achieve through digital technology, is a transformation and immersion of reality, and the potential to extract information could go beyond anything a human could achieve. It alters the individual’s experiences from traditional interaction and observation to an instantaneous and accessible digital consciousness. A.I is a river that has carved and hewn its existence onto the internet, virtual reality, galleries, museums and libraries.

One of the big ethics for Library and Information professionals is to question whether the invasion of A.I into our day to day lives is a blessing or whether there are sea monsters lurking in its hidden depths?
A.I technologies are increasingly relied upon by big data companies with massive capital. There is a risk that creating such A.I for marketing products, influencing behaviour, sparking beliefs, challenging crimes or gaining profit will certainly detriment how we are able to access open and free information. (Floridi, L. 2016). So far none of this technology is fully independent and in all cases the A.I requires a human creator and is a product of a human designed experience. So long as companies are challenged to actively represent the best of inherently human traits, combining logic, creativity and compassion, then so will our A.I.

The cynical among us will see the flood of A.I as the beginning of a Terminator style takeover, but I am ever the romanticist and optimist. This is a turning point for the Library and Information profession and a chance for us to be a guiding hand in the management and control of the big data. Librarians are striving for knowledge, but it is a fruitless path if we do not also have the wisdom to share it. We cannot just sit behind issue desks, loaning out resources like machines. After all, people are remarkably fascinating, beautiful and complex and it takes a certain talent for kindness and activism to reach out to them, work with them and help them grow. Technology as a tool may come and go, but a Librarian with a warm smile and a cargo full of information can never be lost. So let’s get out there, hoist the sails, shout from our ships and share a little of our wisdom with the world!

Metadata sounds alien, complicated and like something Doctor Who would theorise about to his companion. Despite the vagueness, the nature of Metadata is to be incredibly helpful to us fellow Librarians and our service users. For those of you who like me are visually minded and enjoy a good metaphor, allow me to introduce you to the artist and oracle William Blake. Mr Blake is going to kindly reinterpret Metadata for us:

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour”.

What could sound more eloquent or more beautiful? To see the world in a grain of sand, this is what Metadata does for us. Imagine the expanse of a golden, sun touched desert. Within the windswept sands, there holds a numerous amount of data, molecules, and atoms. An entire microscopic world is contained within one single gleaming speck. Well, Metadata helps us see that world, with clarity, by magnifying and filtering through the sand.
Have I lost you in a world of metaphors? Ok, less prophetic poetry and more fact. Metadata is best translated as ‘data about data’ and it can be seen as structured categories that help to find, retrieve and control information. (Pomerantz, J. 2015).
For libraries, the most common example of Metadata is found in the search terms of the library catalogue, and these are an essential way of filtering through documents so that service users can find resources easily. The library catalogue is Blake’s heaven in a wild flower, it is a portal to knowledge and a place to see the entire world.

So why is Metadata important for the Fine Art practice and how can Library and Information professionals help?
In our digital world, art exists online in an abundant oasis and this provides Art and Design students with endless inspiration and pools for creativity. Websites such as Google, Pinterest, and Instagram, with their ease of access, have made it easy to build giant dunes of images. In piling up so much data, finding professional and high quality images of art can feel like you are sinking in quicksand (and not to mention the grainy pixels!).
Art is also highly interpretive, and anyone familiar with it will know that the subject matter, medium, and content are not always translated in the title of the work. In order to gain a reliable search result, an information professional with specific subject knowledge must interpret the art and go through the process of adding descriptive metadata. The very fact that we must use words to describe a work of art means that the old saying “a painting can speak a thousand words” has never been more apt. (Baca, M. 2002).

Held within the lofty aether of academic libraries, Art Librarians hold the kingdom keys to visual information with their detailed knowledge of the rapid advancements in technology, social media, and contemporary art. They are able to deliver tailored visual literacy workshops and study skill sessions that help hone the craft of locating and understanding images from across the arts. (Glassman, P. & Dyki, J. 2017).
While we are all guiltily and gluttonously using Google Images for their fast food style search service, Librarians can provide unique support that encourages users to go beyond Google, escaping the algorithm and questioning what it is they are not being shown. By assisting service users to access validated image collections and databases, like ARTstor for example, what they can guarantee is that a professional with subject knowledge has added descriptive metadata to the images and that this information is also embedded in the image file itself. Details of the copyright, date, creator and the title of the artwork are precisely defined and provide an accurate basis for service users who are referencing this visual information.

Our digital society is richly saturated with information and images. If Librarians can break stereotypes and truly inspire students and academic staff to act on natural inquisitiveness when researching, and demonstrate the boons of better study skills, then we are on the right tracks to becoming trustworthy, reliable and accurate advisors in the sandstorm that is big data.

Two inspiring and highly topical classes by Lyn Robinson have left my mind feeling expanded, excited and terrified! After the second class, there was a huge temptation to run home, burn all my technology, grab my favourite Terry Pratchett novel and flee to a cabin in the woods. What I am starting to grasp is that data, documents, and images, are everywhere. In my last post, I pondered romantically over the notion that data is simply a ‘sea of information’. A rookie mistake, data is much more like a vast swirling galaxy, set in the black velvet of deep space, reaching to infinity and beyond. Data is omnipresent!

Time to weigh my options:
1) Carry out the ‘cabin in the woods’ plan and live my days in blissful ignorance of technology and the inescapable data.
2) Buy a Cat.
3) Let myself be swept away with the tide, explore, read, soak up what I am learning like a sponge, and try to find the bigger picture.

Let us go for option 3… it sounds like that could be an exciting odyssey.

Swept Away with the Tide – The Big Picture in an Ocean of Images.

Before the arrival of our dear friend the internet, viewing images required much more physicality than that of our digital generation. To see one of J. M. W. Turner’s beautifully elemental paintings, you would have to traverse to a gallery or visit a library to find a book on him. Master painters were singular content creators, and in the solace of their studio this was a solitary process. Cue scene… here comes the tidal wave… meet… the Internet!

The advancement of technology and open access to the world wide web has been a sweeping tide for the contemporary art practice. Art is now part of a collaborative and multidisciplinary digital world. No longer does art have a restricted creation within its own industry. Anyone with access to technology and the internet can create and share visual content. (Arbelo, M. 2014).
It is also now possible to follow practising artists on social media, feasting your eyes on real time art and infinite content. It does not end there too, endless newsprint, television, and smartphones bombard our eyes daily with images.

What does this all mean for the Library & Information Science profession?
Firstly, we must question the boundaries of contemporary art as a document. Visual literacy explores Paintings as a document and the ways in which they contain historical, social and political context. As the Fine Art practice has expanded into conceptual, installation and performance based work, we will have to develop new ways of documenting and making art accessible in the Library.
Secondly, information literacy, copyright, and censorship have become important ethics that Library and Information professionals must be aware of.
The IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers states that “Librarians and other information workers reject the denial and restriction of access to information and ideas most particularly through censorship whether by states, governments, or religious or civil society institutions.” (IFLA. 2017).
To provide freedom of information is what every Librarian should aspire to, however, in an academic library is this truly possible? Recently in my own workplace, I encountered a group of Fashion & Textiles students who were having trouble accessing images from the Vogue Archive, within our virtual learning environment. It is not uncommon for images to hit the firewall and become censored. Unavoidably, fashion and art often explore sensitive content (also read as… nudity!). I am contractually obliged to safeguard students from sensitive material. Is the service then restricting learning if it is unable to provide uncensored access to images? The truth is I am not sure I know the answer yet. I hope further studies at CityLIS will bring clarity to my obligations as a Librarian and help me find the bigger picture in a complex ocean of images, data and ethics.

Oceans are vast bodies of water surrounding continents and are critical to the survival of humankind. Water sustains us and the very origin of life is found in it. What would you think if I said the same about Libraries?

We immerse ourselves in oceans every day, from the deep seas of the internet to the tides and chapters of books, the ebb and flow of social media and the sweep and pull of news and television. Gone are the days of dusty tomes, inks, and quills in Libraries. In our digital world Librarians take a central role in helping navigate the torrent of information.
In the same way as water, these seas of digital information sustain and record human life. They have become vessels where human memory and experiences are documented and can exist eternally (providing no one pulls the off switch!).
In a billion years will Twitter be the bedrock in which we sift for the fossils or traces of humanity? Are the complex digital systems we have surrounded our lives with really all that different from the cave paintings of our ancestors?
Ok, let me stop there… these are huge questions and the little boat I am adrift on is nowhere near big enough to answer them, but they are certainly ideas to paddle over.

Hello! Let me introduce myself, I’m Alex. The human body is made of water, a trace of our oceanic past, so here are a couple of insights into my own sea, the very information that makes up me:
– I am currently studying Library Science MSc part-time at City University.
– I also work in a Learning Resource Centre at West Kent College supporting students with a whole range of library related services.
– Fine Art is my academic discipline and I hope to use this subject knowledge to one day work as a Subject Librarian in the arts.
– I am left handed. Interestingly there was some obscure research carried out to prove that left-handed people adjust to sight underwater better than their right-handed kin (I am sure a scientist will tell you that is hocus pocus though).

So speaking of Science, I have always thought of Science and Mathematics as my personal Loch Ness monster, a subject full of intrigue but slightly mythical and out of my comprehending. So here I am, an artist on a Science Masters! Naturally, this feels like quite the big dive, but I have an open mind and very much look forward to seeing where the tides of science, information, and art meet.
Swimming down the river of the Masters course, I hope to pursue research on developing an information literacy programme for art and design students in academic libraries, as well as research into image collections and the boundaries of art as a document.

Here is to hoping I can stay adrift, reach an island and answer some big Library related questions along the way!